Parable of the sower 2 of 2

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

There are four types of hearts that are described for us here in this passage       in other words - there are four ways that we react to the gospel when it is

   “sown” in our lives (or presented to us in some manner) . . . 

Now what I want to do in this lesson – is to look at how “The Lord’s   Church” reacts to the gospel . . . and how do we as preachers react when God uses The Word to speak to our heart – 

When God uses this same word to speak to rest of the congregation -- how do we react as God's messenger? . . . Often times preachers have a bad habit of using God’s Word to preach to others – without ever letting that word “be presented” to THEMSELVES.

Ideally - the preacher studies God’s Word – The Word convicts the heart of the preacher – the preacher then “shares that conviction” with the rest of the congregation so that they might be able to benefit like he did . . . 

A preacher in any church is not better, he is not smarter nor is he closer to God than any other member of the congregation is . . . but he has a heart that is in one of these four basic conditions – just like everyone that he is preaching to does.

The wayside hearer represents those of us in the congregation who have already made our minds up . . . it doesn't matter what message God lays upon the heart of the preacher . . . OR if the heart of the preacher is not 

right with God - if his heart is hard, then in his own self-importance - he is going to preach what-ever he wants to preach - or what-ever he thinks will please or entertain to gain the largest congregation and ensure him a good salary. 

Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

The wayside hearer represents the type of congregation that is dull of hearing – To be waxed gross is to become thick or to be callused over.

This is no different than the pathway that has become hardened by all the traffic – so that the seeds are not able to penetrate that top layer and send roots into the soil beneath . . . when our heart becomes callused – the gospel is just not able to “get through” . . . our mind is made up

and we simply will  not listen . . . to be dull of hearing means that we have become “deaf” so that we no longer hear the word . . . This is a description of those who have shut their eyes so that they cannot see the truth . . . it 

describes those who have closed their heart so that they will not consider the message of the gospel . . . The result of this type of attitude – is that it will prevent “The Word” from being able to convert and to heal . . . 

To be converted actually refers to being brought back – like we would think about returning to God from a backslidden condition.

To be backslidden refers to how we as God’s children often times forget about our commitment to God . . . to become backslidden is not necessarily to get involved in all sorts of sin so that we become evil and fight against 

God – but we become backslidden when we get sidetracked – or distracted with life . . . this is what it means to be chocked with thorns or the cares of life.  This happens to us not when we choose evil over good, but when we become too busy with life to properly serve our God.

God speaks to the church at Ephesus whose only transgression – was that she had “Laid aside” her love for Jesus . . . she had become so busy with the practice of religion – that she had forgotten to practice Christianity.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

In Acts 28 the message had been delivered to a people whose heart had waxed gross – the path back to proper fellowship with God had been exposed . . . but no-one listened to the message– no-one opened their eyes 

to the message – the entire congregation closed their hearts and would not even consider that they had drifted away from God and that they were in need of repentance – they would not let God heal their lives and draw them 

back to a close relationship with Him . . . the first step toward such a condition is made – when a church “lays aside” her love for Jesus like the Ephesians did.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

God wants to convert us and to heal us – this simply means that God desires to “draw us back” which He cannot do if we remain as a people whose  heart is waxed gross, and whose ears are dull of hearing, and whose eyes 

have been closed . . lest we should see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and understand with our heart, and should be converted, as the Lord heals our lives and our worship and our church.

Is the condition of our heart hard like the rocky ground hearer - so that we intend to do good but just never get around to it?

Are we best described by the wayside hearer - who actually starts out on the right track but when we encounter resistance of some sort - we just give up.

Then there is the thorny ground hearer - he never does anything really bad - he just gradually gets too busy to love Jesus anymore . . . he still goes through the motions - but his heart has returned to the world.

The good ground hearer - is the type of person who is all too rare to find.  This person is what God wants him to be . . . he is not perfect - but he is committed to the truth and his life is a reflection of the love that he has for God . . . while it does not reflect the love that he has for self.